Ben Nguyen Pushing Towards UFC Flyweight Title Shot

Sioux Falls native Ben Nguyen continues to climb the ladder of the UFC Flyweight division, and he says he's ready to take on the world.

Nguyen (18-6) recently joined us on Overtime with Jeff Thurn and is coming off a 49-second win over Tim Elliott at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Hunt back on June 11th. The win propelled Nguyen to 8th in the UFC Flyweight rankings. This was a huge high profile win as Elliott recently took UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson to the limit, losing in a 5-round decision.

"I put a lot of work into that fight. Did a lot of research into this guy [Elliott]. A lot of people don't know, but I threw a left kick that hit him dead on his head and we planned all that. Really happy."

Following the impressive victory, that also netted Nguyen $50,000 for performance of the night, the Sioux Falls native has alerted the world as to who he is, and the conversation has started about him being a potential challenger to Johnson.

"There's talks of me fighting, and people going online, and saying that maybe I should fight the champ. It would be crazy, fun, and I'd do it. After beating Elliott I feel like I can beat anyone. I'm on top of the world. He was a tough, tough dude and I put him out in less than a minute. I feel like I can do the same thing to D.J."

Even if he isn't granted the title fight next, Nguyen is ready for all challengers and is living out his dream one day at a time.

"I feel like I'm living the dream. I started in this never thinking I could make it to the UFC. They didn't even have flyweights way back then. Doing what I do now is like a dream."